Young enterprise at Naitiri Friends School

After visiting Mbalako Secondary School (see my two blogs below) I headed to Naitiri Friends School in North Bungoma District. It is a less developed and smaller school than Mbalako but, like Mbalako, it has recently enjoyed the benefits of having a solar lighting system installed.

The new solar system sits on the roof at Naitiri Friends School.

I met with three fourth formers including the headboy Maxwell. Two of the three students told me that they wanted to be doctors or work in pharmaceuticals and the third wanted to be a nurse. Their principal, a lady called Rose, whose subject is Physics, is a strong solar advocate and was particularly excited to have solar power systems installed at her school.

The school has taken the interesting and enterprising decision to hand the management of the income generation from the solar system over to its Business Studies students rather than to teachers or a committee. This is a great way for students to understand the importance of enterprise, to learn about issues and problems that arise from running a small business and, most importantly, how to overcome these problems.

School Principal Rose N. Soita stands outside Naitiri Friends School.

The school charges 5Ksh (0.05p) to students and teachers and 10Ksh to (1p) outsiders in the community for phone charging. They plan to find a means of advertising the service more widely amongst the community in the near future. They also told me about their idea of offering a photocopying service to the people of Naitiri to increase the income from the system.

For Naitiri Friends School, whose motto is 'rising to the top is our goal', it seems the sky is literally the limit.

Anna

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